Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1887-07-01
TtxAS RANGERS.
The SoIdier-Sherifs who Protect the
Front!er-CriminalsP Pushed over the
Line.

The SoIdierSheriHs Who Protect the
Frontier Criminals Pushed over the
Line.
OF the whole frontier line separating the re
public of the United States from the republic
of Mexico there is no portion better poiced
than that which extends from The Gull OF
Mexico to FL Paso Tex This is in great
measure due TO the fact that from the gulf to
this little southwestern town the boundary
between the two republics is natural one,
formed by the muddy stream of the Ro
Grande But more especially is the security
Of this part OF the border due 10 the courage
GUS and untiring efforts OF that portion of the
state troops of Texas known as the Texas
rangers. There has not been period in the
history Of Texas with which the romantic
name of rangers has not been more or less in
timatey connected. They were rangers who
fought against Santa Ana, and who fell in the
desperate conflict at the Alamo, and it was
dying rangers who bequeathed TO their chill
dren the task Of vengence which still inspires
the Texan In every border conflict with the
rallying cry Remember the Alamo"
The corps Of rangers formed part Of the
troops that fought against the union during
the civil war; and, indeed, they were the nu-
cleus around which gathered and were dis
eiplined the wild frontier men of Texas who
were, under Gen. kirby Smith, the last to lay
down their arms, long after Gen, Robert e.
Lee had surrendered his sword to Grant. 1t
seems strange that though Texas was the last
OF all the states to submit, she really suffered
SO little. Texas to-day owns her public lands,
and her mineral wealth is not controlled by
the general mining law of the country. More
over, she has to-day as In older times, her
corps Of rangers, solely controlled by the state
and yet maintained In active military service
This is unique privilege and one which no
other state in the union enjoys.
There did not for some years after the war
and during the reconstruction period, exist
any state force in Texas, and the present
organization of rangers came into being in
1874, when Gov. Richard Coke was in office.
The whole force at the present does not mum
Der more than $50 men, yet it has been found
amply sufficient to thoroughly police the
frontier.
A Texas ranger, strange though 1t may ap-
pear, is not usually Texan by birth. The
rangers come from every part of the union,
and quite number of them are young ad-
venturers eastern boys of good families. 1t
is impossible for a poor man to join this state
force. He must have, as preliminary to en-
lstment a horse Of his own Winchester
rifle, all the necessities for camping out,
and about Sl0o invested in his outfit. He
joins for period OF six months, and receives
$50 month for his services and sll for ration
for his horse. The state provides him with
all the ammunition he may care to fire away,
ard under such circumstances it is needless to
say that every ranger is a dead shot, both
with a rifle and revolver. A corporal receives
s35 month"; sergeant $50 month, lieu
tenant SIS and allowance for two horses,
captain 500 month and allowance for two
dorses. There is no higher rank In the rang
ers than captain, though when two or three
companies are together the senior captain is
commander
The Texas ranger Is curious compound Of
a soldier and a police officer He Is a state
police officer and soldier at the same time
In the former capacity he performs the duties
of deputy sheriff in every county in the
state, and is authorized to arrest fugitives
from Justice without warrant A list Of
these fugitves is furnished from time to time
TO every ranger, toso 49,. with their de
scriptions, and 1t is his duty to commit 1t to
memory. The services that this body of state
troops has rendered Texas are ncalculable.
While all New Mexico and Arizona have
been for years past overrun by hostile Apach-
es, the frontier of Texas has never suffered
The manner In which the rangers utterly ex-
terminated the Lipans and Kckapoos, as
well the Comanehes, is lively reminder to the
Apsches and Nayajoes not to cross the Rio
Grande where 1t borders on the Lone Star
state.
An example Of the manner in which border
officers dispense with the nice formalities of
cxtradltion papers is furnished by the tacit
agreement which exists between the Mexican
officers at Paso del Norte, Mexico, and the
rangers in Fl Paso, Tex, When the rangers
know that the man they want is in the neigh
borhood of the Mexican town they go over
and inform the chief of police that they want
such man. The Mexican police arrest him
on some trivial charge or no charge at all.
They bring the prisoner to the middle CT the
street-car bridge, where an imaginary line
divides the United States from Mexico. The
Texas officers meet them half way. The
Mexican officers give the unfortunate wretch
a shove that sends him over the imaginary
line, and he finds himself prisoner under
'he laws of Texas. OF course whenever the
Mexican officials require similar favor the
rangers are only too glad and willing to ex-
tend it. And so extradition goes merrily on
without troubling the state department to
any considerable extent
This extraordinary force Of soldler-sheriffs
is distinctly remarkable for the absolute loyal
tv the members bear each other. They have
taken for their motto, God hates towards,
and they live up to it. There is hardly
member of the force who has been ranger
for even a single year that has not gone
through experiences that other men would
crowd into ? lifetime Desperadoes, cattle
thieves, Indians, and fence-cutters hardly
leave an idle day to company of rangers
During the strikes on jay Gould's southwest
ern system, II was due to their energy alone
that passenger traffic gas not wholly
stopped They are distinctive class Of men,
even among frontlersmen, and have in the
highest degree all the virtues OF the rough,
wild southwestern life, with scarcely one OF
its vices.-1Eeg York Star